100% Water Change

[ethanhh]

Hey there, I need some advice. For the pass month my fluval evo 13.5 has had some problems. I brought it home from college in November. I have no clue what it is. My assumption is that its an algae bloom, but that means it should have gone away by now. I tried dosing MB7 and my LFS told me to take out all the reds, whites, greens and yellows from my light. I have no idea what to do next. I was thinking what if i do a 100% water change and drip acclimate all of my coral and fish back in. I wanted to reach out to everyone on this form to get a second opinion. If there’s any other recommendations I am very glad to listen. I do a water change every week and change out my carbon along with it. Please HELP.

[ethanhh]

I was also thinking to go bare bottom to see if it would help, thats why there’s some sand missing. 

[Clown79]

That looks like a bacterial bloom with algae on the glass.

 

In The pic looks like white fogginess not green?

 

How did you move the tank from  locations?

 

Changing carbon weekly seems a bit extreme. It doesn't exhaust that quickly. Normally only recommended to change that often when you have a big problem

[Zer0]

I’m not seeing water parameters? Have you tested the water? 
 

Also how old is the tank? And did you start taking the sand out before or after this incident? 

[ethanhh]

2 hours ago, Zer0 said:

I’m not seeing water parameters? Have you tested the water? 
 

Also how old is the tank? And did you start taking the sand out before or after this incident? 

I don’t test test my water and haven’t since I’ve gotten the tank. I took a sample into my LFS and they said everything was good. Before I moved the tank it was 6 months old. And I started taking some of the sand out after. 

[ethanhh]

4 hours ago, Clown79 said:

That looks like a bacterial bloom with algae on the glass.

 

In The pic looks like white fogginess not green?

 

How did you move the tank from  locations?

 

Changing carbon weekly seems a bit extreme. It doesn't exhaust that quickly. Normally only recommended to change that often when you have a big problem

The glass is clear. I moved it in the back of my truck, the water was cold when I got home (I live in Colorado). So I warmed it up but everything else was fine. 

[mcarroll]

3 hours ago, ethanhh said:

Before I moved the tank it was 6 months old.

3 hours ago, ethanhh said:

I moved it in the back of my truck, the water was cold when I got home

What all got cold?  Just the spare water?  The substrate?  The rock?  The fish?  The corals?

 

Whatever, this probably explains the bacterial/algae bloom.....there was probably an ammonia spike....but you weren't testing so you missed it.  

 

I would consider:

• ...the tank Zero Days Old again.
• ...getting a Seachem AmmoAlert badge

And of course watch those fish and corals for signs of stress.  The bacterial/algae bloom can have a big impact on oxygen levels, among the other effects....other than that it should actually be pretty harmless.  So don't panic no matter what you do.  👍

 

It would be useful if you could test for pH and ammonia (or use the AmmoAlert) until things are settled back down.  Both are needed to tell you how toxic the tank might be from ammonia.  

 

Total ammonia can be OK – this is what the number that a test kit will tell you.  But any considerable levels of free ammonia (NH3 ≥ 0.01 or 0.02 ppm I think) is usually NOT ok.  You have to know salinity and pH to compute free ammonia levels.  (Google a calculator or conversion table.)

 

Get your water re-tested as soon as you can, and record the test values for everything they test.  👍

[ethanhh]

48 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

What all got cold?  Just the spare water?  The substrate?  The rock?  The fish?  The corals?

 

Whatever, this probably explains the bacterial/algae bloom.....there was probably an ammonia spike....but you weren't testing so you missed it.  

 

I would consider:

• ...the tank Zero Days Old again.
• ...getting a Seachem AmmoAlert badge

And of course watch those fish and corals for signs of stress.  The bacterial/algae bloom can have a big impact on oxygen levels, among the other effects....other than that it should actually be pretty harmless.  So don't panic no matter what you do.  👍

 

It would be useful if you could test for pH and ammonia (or use the AmmoAlert) until things are settled back down.  Both are needed to tell you how toxic the tank might be from ammonia.  

 

Total ammonia can be OK – this is what the number that a test kit will tell you.  But any considerable levels of free ammonia (NH3 ≥ 0.01 or 0.02 ppm I think) is usually NOT ok.  You have to know salinity and pH to compute free ammonia levels.  (Google a calculator or conversion table.)

 

Get your water re-tested as soon as you can, and record the test values for everything they test.  👍

The water, the substrate and the rock was cold, everything else was inside my truck. I sorry I didn’t clarify, I have an API test kit. I test my ammonia, nitrite and nitrate every other day. And I test my salinity everyday. When I say I don’t test I mean my Alk and my Calcium. I brought the tank home in November and the water was clear, until around new years. And then I started to treat it last month when it got really bad. 

[mcarroll]

7 hours ago, ethanhh said:

The water, the substrate and the rock was cold, everything else was inside my truck.

So the water, substrate and rock should be considered dead after that – they should have been in the truck as if it was livestock.  😬

 

Almost definitely what caused the ammonia spike that caused that bacteria/algae bloom, so at least there's no mystery.  

 

FYI, that bloom is probably keeping the water habitable right now, so be thankful for it.  👍

 

I would still get that AmmoAlert badge AND watch pH – in case there is still ammonia you'll be able to react before it gets to problematic levels.    (Your fish and corals wouldn't start reacting until "it's too late".)

[ethanhh]

2 hours ago, mcarroll said:

So the water, substrate and rock should be considered dead after that – they should have been in the truck as if it was livestock.  😬

 

Almost definitely what caused the ammonia spike that caused that bacteria/algae bloom, so at least there's no mystery.  

 

FYI, that bloom is probably keeping the water habitable right now, so be thankful for it.  👍

 

I would still get that AmmoAlert badge AND watch pH – in case there is still ammonia you'll be able to react before it gets to problematic levels.    (Your fish and corals wouldn't start reacting until "it's too late".)

Alright, I will for sure pick one up today. so, should I just wait it out?

[Fnard]

Your tank will mostly likely start recycling because of die off. Best bet is to try and re-home, pet store/fellow reefers/etc, until complete. Beyond that, get some Prime, cross fingers and keep up on WCs. Oh, and now would be a good time to invest in a test kit. 

[ethanhh]

Alright. I started a new tank a few days ago, everything was cleaned off and soaked in citric acid. It’s a little 6 gallon cube.  The only thing that was the same was the bio media. IT’S ONLY BEEN 3 DAYS!!!! The cube I starting to look like my other tank. I assume that whatever this is; it is stuck to the bio media. Can you guys give me a positive ID on what it is. 

[mcarroll]

3 hours ago, ethanhh said:

Alright, I will for sure pick one up today. so, should I just wait it out?

It depends on how things look and how things go....which only you can judge.  Having the ammonia and pH data will be very useful.

 

Guessing purely based on what I can tell from here, I think there's a good chance that the bloom is using up all ammonia and that's why there's no apparent stress.  Hopefully that's true and it'll transition peacefully to normalcy at some point soon.

 

It still means the rock is going to have a time of Uglies and everything else that goes with starting over....but hopefully it'll be no worse than "ugly" for a little while.  👍

[cft916]

get a uv sterilizer and call it a day. will clear the water right up and then you can see what you need to do.